Sid Small

"If you stay in the house all the time and just sit there, you're gonna be a bug, as our good friend Kafka once said," warns Sid.

So, if he's not savoring his vinyl record collection of classical music and jazz, or becoming engrossed in the pages of historical fiction, you probably won't find Sid at home. Instead, look for him out and about, socializing and volunteering among his many community involvements - his church, Kiwanis, his investment club, his various morning coffee buddies, his international professional organization, and, yes, SearStone already! If you stay in the house all the time and just sit there, you're gonna be a bug, as our good friend Kafka once said," warns Sid.

So, if he's not savoring his vinyl record collection of classical music and jazz, or becoming engrossed in the pages of historical fiction, you probably won't find Sid at home. Instead, look for him out and about, socializing and volunteering among his many community involvements - his church, Kiwanis, his investment club, his various morning coffee buddies, his international professional organization, and, yes, SearStone already!

Get to know Sid and you'll feel a warm familiarity as if you're already friends. A widower who speaks fondly and frequently of his wife of 50 years, Delores, who passed away in 2003, Sid gravitates towards people who possess the spark and spirituality that motivates them to become involved in the world around them.

A resident of Cary since 1989, Sid is used to being surrounded by activity. "My wife and I grew up in Los Angeles." During that time, he graduated high school and spent a year at the University of Southern California before going off to boot camp as an apprentice seaman. Sid was accepted into the Navy's V-12 program and became an ensign. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Naval Science.

In 1948, Sid went to work for American Airlines - a career that would span 40 years, until his retirement in 1988. "I was mainly a salesman and then general manager of various cities throughout the U.S.," he explains.

Sid and Delores met when she left United and came to work for American. They married in 1953 and, over time, expanded their Small family with three children - Douglas, Dianne and Andrew, who are now grown and living in Virginia, Ohio and Texas, respectively.

By 1988, it was time for Sid and Delores to retire. Wanting to reconnect with Sid's ancestral roots in Arizona, they first tried to settle in Tucson.

"I'd always heard stories from my grandfather about how he lived in Silver City, New Mexico and he knew Billy The Kid - things of this nature. I didn't pay too much attention to it because, when you're young, you're not sure he's telling the truth all the time! But indeed, we found out that he was. He went to elementary school in Silver City, New Mexico. My grandfather's grandfather was a wealthy man in that he owned a lot of hotels in Chicago. Then the Chicago fire came along, but he had some property in Silver City and he settled there about 1858. Later on, after my grandfather married, they settled in the Arizona Territory. So that's why I went back there." But Arizona didn't feel right to Sid and Delores. Sid's assessment: "They just did not have the community spirit. They were just existing. And I somehow wanted to become involved in a community. and doing a little bit more. So we gave it up and came out here to Cary where our son Andrew was attending graduate school at UNC."

The verdict? "We liked it very, very much with the way people lived here. The people were involved." Sid observed, "People were related to church and religion, which was nice."

But Sid and Delores didn't really retire. They became contractors for, naturally, American Airlines. "Back then, American Airlines had a hub here. I was asked to head up the American Airlines Customer Service Evaluation Program for the east coast," Sid explains. With Delores' assistance, "I was responsible for getting 40 volunteer, novice travelers to fly twice a month for six months - free - and they would do evaluations - from reservations to just about everything you'd do with American Airlines - visiting Admiral Clubs, visiting different places.. Being new to the community, I was pretty popular there for a little while!"

Sid also belongs to several social clubs, including Kiwanis and an investment club - which is how he became a founder of Crescent State Bank. "A founder is just someone who gave money to begin with. I'm not on the Board of Directors or anything."

Sid is also a member of Skål International, participating in the Raleigh/Durham chapter. "Only sales managers and general managers of international tourism companies can join," Sid explains. "I've been a member for over 30 years. You can go to international conventions. The next one is in Turkey."

When he's not surrounded by people, Sid is surrounded by music and books. "I've become quite enamored with vinyl records. I enjoy classical as well as jazz." His favorite composers? Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, "and then, of course, everybody loves the Viennese waltzes." As for jazz? "Benny Goodman, Harry James and Artie Shaw. Duke Ellington - goodness sakes!"

So what would make Sid, an active, self-sufficient individual, decide to move to a community? And of all his choices, why SearStone? "My wife died in 2003. I then realized that living alone was not good and that I liked to become involved with people," Sid reflects. "So I set out, maybe a year after that, and decided that I needed to go to a retirement community. Several of my friends have done that. If you're used to planning ahead, as I am."

What made Sid choose SearStone? "I'd interviewed five other communities - from Virginia to Ohio, where two of my children are - as well as here in town. When I heard about SearStone, I went to a meeting and everything I heard was great! I'd interviewed all of these other places and when SearStone came up with their program, it was just right. And I liked getting in on the ground floor. So I became involved in that."

"I liked very much that you get 100% of your Entrance Fee money back. I liked very much the idea of 'New Urbanism.' I was brought up in the big city. I will now be within walking distance of - if you haven't seen it, you need to come down and take a look at it! The properties around it are new shopping centers. There are so many things to do around here. Plus, the fact that there will be all of the amenities right on the property of SearStone. That's quite nice. And the other places didn't really have that."

When interviewing SearStone, Sid asked about the health care aspect. "If that pans out the way that I'd like it to, where they're going to take care of me for the rest of my life, that's what I want. I don't want to mess around with anything else."

When SearStone progressed to the next phase of development, "Andi from SearStone called me up and said, 'Time to choose.' It wasn't hard for me to say, 'Yes, here's my 10% deposit.' I'm very pleased with it."

Sid's kids are behind him, too. "But then again, I'm not spending all of the estate money on a place to live! Because, theoretically, I'll get it back. I'm quite happy and they're happy. It's my job to stay alive and enjoy it!" Towards that objective, Sid exercises, walks and works out at the gym 3 times a week.

Once Sid moves into SearStone, "I will probably ask Andi if she's got some volunteer work I can do, if they need any help. I still have a lot of volunteer work I do at the church - this week I sold Christmas trees and our Sunday School class works at a soup kitchen in downtown Raleigh."

Clearly, Kafka's got nothing on Sid Small.